Nigeria
Nigeria is moving towards people-centred justice in important ways. This is especially true for justice sector professionals and political leaders working together in three states: Imo, Ogun and Kaduna.
Key Highlights
4
Justice Needs and Satisfaction studies completed
2
Justice Transformation Labs
1
Civil Justice transformation lab
With a focus on transformation, each state launched its own strategy for realising people-centred justice. Efforts underway are based on data collected in 2018. In 2023, HiiL released findings from a second Justice Needs & Satisfaction study of 6,500 individuals.
The data shows that 81% of Nigerians experience at least one legal problem in the past year, with many facing multiple problems. The most common problems include disputes with neighbours, domestic violence, land conflicts, crime, and housing problems.
The 2023 JNS Report report is an essential tool for understanding the needs of people in Nigeria, identifying areas that require improvement, and monitoring the progress of various justice initiatives currently underway.
Moving towards people-centred justice requires collective action. In Nigeria, the data is clear. People and businesses are asking justice systems to do better. Now public officials, local representatives, justice providers, and innovators must act to ensure people can move forward in their daily lives. By harnessing the data to inform legal reforms and apply evidence-based best practices, the justice sectors in each state — and across Nigeria as a whole — can realise locally-owned strategies that produce a more user-friendly justice system. The results will have immense social and economic benefits for all.
Projects in Nigeria
Justice Needs & Satisfaction in Nigeria
Since 2018, HiiL has been gathering data in Nigeria, mapping the most prevalent justice problems around the country and people’s needs and satisfaction with solutions to their justice issues. The 2023, 2024 and 2025 Justice Needs and Satisfaction reports are an innovative initiative that followed the same group of individuals over three years to monitor the evolution of their legal problems, offering unique insights into Nigeria’s justice landscape.
Civil Justice Transformation in Ogun State, Nigeria
It is our vision for Ogun State to be the safest place to live, work and do business. In an effort to improve the civil justice journeys and experiences of Nigerians, HiiL initiated a series of stakeholder dialogues (Justice Transformation Labs) to offer meaningful ideas on how to make the justice sector affordable, accessible, and easy to understand.
Ogun State Guidelines
Guidelines are sets of recommended interventions on how to resolve problems. They are based on empirical research and combine knowledge from the fields of psychology, communications, criminology, and conflict resolution. In Ogun State, together with an expert committee, we have defined evidence-based guidelines which address family justice issues and land conflicts.
Justice Transformation in Kaduna State, Nigeria
In collaboration with the Kaduna State Government, key stakeholders, and state-wide justice leaders, HiiL organised a series of dialogues to help realise people-centred justice in Kaduna State. The Justice Transformation Lab series seek to initiate locally-owned strategies that innovatively and effectively produce a more people-centred justice system.
Partners
Contact person
Ijeoma Nwafor
Justice Transformation Country Representative
Further reading
From data to action in Nigeria: The justice needs of people in Africa’s most populous country
Nigeria is on a journey towards a better justice system, with efforts well underway to promote access to justice for all. In recent years, this energy has moved into the justice sector, especially in Imo, Ogun and Kaduna States, where HiiL and partners have worked to bring about people-centred justice. On 25 April, Nigeria took another step in this effort with the launch of the 2023 Justice Needs and Satisfaction (JNS) report.
Transforming civil justice to improve people-centred justice and facilitate the ease of doing business in Ogun State, Nigeria
HiiL and the Ministry of Justice of Ogun State to present a strategy with recommendations for the effective implementation of game-changing pathways that could better serve people-centred justice in both Ogun State and across Nigeria more broadly.
A new justice transformation strategy for the Imo people in Nigeria
15 October 2020 a new justice strategy is launched transforming justice in Imo state, Nigeria, to
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